It was an amazing week of hard work in the heat. I had so many conversations with passers-by about art, the park and invasive plants. I thought the project was very well recieved by the public, who seemed to "get it" on all levels. Kids were some of the biggest fans of the work I was doing.

I've paired up again with poet Hilary Tellesen for another artist/ writer collaboration project. This time the theme was "Home" and photos were the medium.

Our collaboration consisted of Hilary's poems and printed Instagram photos I shot in my house and hers, capturing the forgotten cobwebby corners, beautiful accidents, and the ubiqutous—and meaningful—mess that is often home life.

The Earth Day Origami Project, part of the Butte College 2011 Earth Day Festival, was a continuation of sculptural work I’ve been creating for the past several years utilizing salvaged, reclaimed and recycled materials.

Paper is one of the materials I’ve used frequently, often manipulating it by bending, layering, burning or other techniques. I wanted to use paper collected on the Butte College campus to create a sculpture for Earth Day.

The origami aspect of the project resulted from seeing a documentary film called Between the Folds, about the art and science of modern origami practice. Origami seemed like a natural way to manipulate the paper I was using into a sculptural piece. My 9-year-old son was also very inspired by the film and the magical, meditative practice of origami became a part of our daily lives as a result of watching it.

Used, discarded paper was collected around the Butte College campus. I cut this paper into squares, decorated it and provided it, along with instructions for making the origami crane, in the student lounge. Students and I made over 350 cranes over the course of one week in April, 2011.

The cranes folded by students were used to create the final piece, which I called Cresting Cranes.

The crane was selected as the the form to use for this project because of its significance in Japanese culture as a symbol of peace and wish-granting. Both of these concepts are appropriate for Earth Day and represent my own wish for the creation of a peaceful and healthy planet. ﻿

Jensen writes about the project, "What I saw when I got to the site challenged my sense of aesthetics, asking me to see beauty in something I'd always considered ugly. What we've already got is the beauty of the land and hopefully the will to restore that beauty whereever it has been compromised by wasteful neglect and indifference."

Jtown is an interactive art environment by my dear friend Janice Porter that will be taking over the 1078 Gallery in Chico in October.

I've got a structure in her imaginary, utopic neighborhood of the future—a sculpture that's part meditation hut, part wedding dress—all made from recycled and salvaged materials (mainly plastic trash).

Janice has lots of events planned—check out the flyer and see you there!

The art on the walls was the last thing I moved out of The 46 a few weeks ago. Matt Barber and Andrew Terrell have taken my place there and I'm excited to see what the two new guys and Dylan will have in store.

These are sculptural sketches done over the past 2 years—ideas for pieces, experiments and explorations excuted in miscellaneous salvaged/recycled materials.

Every year visitors leave tons of garbage in Bidwell Park. Fruits of Refuse is a site specific, recylced art installation created from this litter, displayed in the park setting. A surprising array of materials, collected by volunteers, is transformed into sculptural pieces that mingle with the natural environment.